


A Desperate Situation

by csichick_2



Series: HTGAWM RP Fics [14]
Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Blood, Blood Loss, Kid Fic, M/M, Panic Attacks, Suicide Attempt, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-04-09 00:16:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4326471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csichick_2/pseuds/csichick_2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Connor and Oliver's son attempts suicide, the entire family helps him pick up the pieces.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ecaracap](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ecaracap/gifts).



The house is quiet when Oliver gets home from the grocery store, but he’s not concerned. Cassidy won’t be home from drama club for another hour and Nolan gets lost in his own little world when he’s holed up with his computer – much like Oliver did at that age.

“Nolan,” he calls out. “Help me put the groceries away.” He sighs when there’s no response, assuming that his son has his headphones on. “Nolan,” he calls out again when he reaches the top of the stairs. When there’s still no response, Oliver gets annoyed. “Damn it, Nolan, I told you not to turn your headphones up so loud,” he grumbles, stopping in the doorway of Nolan’s room. When he sees the room is empty he starts to worry. Nolan always makes sure his dads know where he is and Oliver knows that something is seriously wrong. That’s only confirmed when Oliver calls Nolan’s phone and he hears it ringing from the bathroom. The locked bathroom. Thankfully the lock is easy for Oliver to bypass, but that still doesn’t prepare him for the sight of Nolan lying on the floor, blood gushing out of his wrists. He grabs towels from the bathroom closet and wraps them around Nolan’s wrists to try to slow the bleeding as he frantically calls 911. He knows that Connor is in court and won’t answer his phone, so he calls Michaela as he waits for the ambulance and she assures him that she’ll take care of telling Connor and getting Cassidy from school. Once Nolan is in the paramedics’ capable hands, Oliver starts to sob. His little boy is clinging to life and Oliver has no idea if he’s going to make it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michaela tells Connor about Nolan.

When Michaela hangs up the phone, she realizes that her hand is shaking. Not only has she known Nolan since the day he was born, he’s one of Julian’s closest friends and quite possibly the sweetest kid she’s ever known. She has no idea what would have made him do what he did, but she knows it has to be something bad. She takes a deep breath to steady herself as she locks up the office and heads to her car to drive to the courthouse.

Connor has just finished questioning a witness when she arrives and asks for a brief recess when he spots Michaela. “What’s going on?” he asks her, concerned. They never bother each other in court unless it’s an emergency.

“Oliver called me,” Michaela says trying to keep her voice steady. “It’s Nolan… he… he…”

“What happened, Michaela?” Connor asks, trying not to panic, but he knows that it has to be bad for her to be like this.

“He slit his wrists. Oliver called me while waiting for the ambulance,” she says, hugging him tightly, as much for her as for him.

“Oh my god…” Connor breathes, pretty sure Michaela’s embrace is the only reason his still upright. “Is he…” he trails off, not able to finish the question.

“Oliver was pretty frantic, so I think it’s bad, but he’s still alive,” Michaela says gently. “I’ll get a Uber car to send you to the hospital and then take care of the judge. I told Oliver I’d get Cassidy from drama club, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“Thanks, Michaela,” Connor says weakly.

Michaela helps Connor to the car and tells the driver where to take him, before going to the judge and getting a continuance. She takes a few minutes to collect herself in the bathroom before heading over to the school. As hard as it was telling Connor, it’s going to be harder to tell Cassidy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connor and Oliver wait for news about their son.

Connor forces himself to take deep breaths on the way to the hospital. He’s glad that Michaela thought to use Uber, since if Connor were driving he probably would have wrecked his car by now.

When he gets to the hospital, Connor frantically looks around until he finds Oliver, who looks about as wrecked as he feels.

Oliver rushes over to Connor and pulls him into an embrace. “The doctors are still working on him. There was so much fucking blood, Connor. The only reason I knew he wasn’t dead is because he was still bleeding.”

Connor rubs comforting circles on Oliver’s back. He knows he’s on the verge of a panic attack, but he tries to push it down as long as he can. Oliver’s freaked out enough right now and doesn’t need Connor melting down on top of all of that. “Do think he was actually trying too or was it just a cry for help?” he asks though he suspects he already knows the answer.

“I think there was too much blood for it to be just a cry for help. I tried to stop the bleeding before the paramedics got there. Those cuts were fucking deep,” Oliver replies.

Connor feels his breathing becoming erratic, panic attack crashing in at full force. Oliver quickly notices and guides Connor into a chair, rubbing circles onto his back.

“Breathe, babe,” Oliver says softly, not wanting to attract attention to Connor. “The best doctor’s in Philly are working on him right now.”

“What if it’s not enough?” Connor asks frantically. “What if…”

Before Oliver has a chance to reply, a doctor comes out asking for the family of Nolan Hampton-Walsh. “We’re his fathers,” Oliver says, gripping Connor’s hand tightly.

“Your son lost a lot of blood, but we have every reason to believe he’ll make a complete recovery,” the doctor tells them.

“Oh thank god,” Connor breathes. “Can we see him?”

“He’s still in surgery right now,” the doctor replies. “Nolan’s wounds are tricky to stitch up, so the surgeons are taking their time. But I know what it’s like to be a worried parent and I wanted to update you.”

“Thank you,” Oliver says. “What’s next?”

“Once he’s out of the OR, Nolan will be transferred to the ICU until he wakes up,” the doctor replies. “You’ll be able to see him then.”

“Our other children? Will they be able to see him?” Connor asks.

“As long as they’re at least twelve, yes,” the doctor replies. “The hospital is pretty strict about that.”

“Our youngest is sixteen, so that’s not a problem,” Oliver replies.

Connor slumps against Oliver as soon as the doctor leaves. “Part of me wants to hug him and never let go,” he says. “And the other part of me wants to scream at him for scaring us like that just as soon as he wakes up.”

Oliver wraps an arm around his husband. “The important part is that he is going to wake up.” The two sit in silence while they wait to be able to see their son.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michaela picks up Cassidy from school and lets her know that her brother is in the hospital.

Michaela finds herself a bundle of nerves as she leans against Cassidy’s car waiting for the sixteen year old to finish up with Drama Club. With Kenzie and Walker off at school, Nolan and Cassidy are very close and Michaela knows she’s going to take the news hard. 

About fifteen minutes later, Cassidy comes out of the school with her friends and Michaela can see her mood instantly shift upon spotting her. She says something to her friends before walking the rest of the way to her car alone. “What happened?” she asks, and Michaela almost wishes that Cassidy had pretended to not know why her honorary aunt was there, just to buy more time.

“It’s Nolan. He… he was in accident,” Michaela says, unable to repeat the horrible details a second time. “I told your dads that I’d come get you, so they can both be at the hospital.”

Cassidy’s eyes immediately fill up with tears and Michaela pulls her into a hug. “How bad is it?” she asks.

“I’m not sure sweetie,” Michaela says, settling on a half-truth. She knew it was bad, but she didn’t know how bad.

“You came here to take me to the hospital, right?” Cassidy asks, her voice wavering. “And not to keep me company and distract me.”

“Your dads know you’re way too smart for that to ever work,” Michaela replies. “I told them that I get you to give them one less thing to worry about.”

“So it’s bad,” Cassidy says, reading between the lines.

“I think so sweetie,” Michaela says, holding her even tighter.

“Is he going to die?” Cassidy asks in a small voice.

Michaela has no idea what to say, because she honestly has no idea. She ultimately settles for what she’s thinking. “I hope not.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, didn't mean to leave this so long between chapters. I'm hoping to be better about writing consistently in 2016. Still not sure how many chapters this will end up being, but I have through chapter 27 outlined.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nolan gets out of surgery.

As much as Oliver wants to break down, he has to be the strong one. At least for now. Cassidy is curled up against one side looking as though she might start sobbing any second, and Connor is leaning against his other side. Oliver can tell from how tense his husband is that an anxiety attack is lurking just under the surface, and he hopes for Connor’s sake that it waits until they’re somewhere a little more private before it breaks through.

Even though he had already told them that Nolan was expected to make a full recovery, Oliver still gets nervous when the doctor returns to the waiting room. Thankfully, he is there to them that Nolan is out of surgery and being transferred to the ICU. They’re all quiet as they follow the doctor, but Oliver can tell that it’s on the tip of Connor’s tongue to snap at the doctor for not taking them there faster.

Seeing Nolan so pale and so still is the breaking point for Cassidy as she breaks into sobs, sinking to the floor next to her brother’s bedside. Oliver wants to do the same, but he knows that he has to stay strong, at least for a bit longer.

“How bad was it?” he asked quietly.

“If you hadn’t found him when you did, we’d probably be having a very different conversation right now,” the doctor admits. “We was minutes away from bleeding out when he got here.”

“Oh my god,” Connor breathes. “Is that why he’s so pale?”

The doctor nods. “We did several transfusions, but blood bank cut us off when he was out of the woods. If either of you have a compatible blood type, you could donate and we could do another transfusion to hopefully wake him up faster.”

“I’m AB positive, so I’m out on two fronts there,” Connor says. “Cassidy is also B negative though.”

“We trying to avoid using minors whenever possible. Liability reasons,” the doctor says looking pointedly at Oliver.

“I can’t donate, so my blood-type is irrelevant,” Oliver says simply. While a medical is unlikely to react negatively to his HIV-positive status, he just doesn’t want to go there right now.

“Looks like your daughter is the only option then,” the doctor replies. “Provided you both consent.”

“I wouldn’t have brought her up if I wasn’t okay with it,” Connor says shortly.

“As long as Cassidy agrees, it’s alright with me,” Oliver replies.

Cassidy looks up from her spot on the floor. “What do you need me to agree too?” she asks.

“If you donate blood, we can give it to your brother so he gets better faster,” the doctor explains. 

“Take as much as you need,” Cassidy says, sticking her arm out.

“Well, um, we can’t do it in here because the room needs to remain sterile,” the doctor says, taken aback by her enthusiasm. “A nurse will come get you in a few minutes.”

Cassidy reaches up and takes her brother’s hand. “He’s never this still,” she says softly. “Even when he’s lost in his computer, he’s either typing or drumming his fingers or something.”

“And you’re going to help him get back to that sooner, kiddo,” Connor says, really hoping that he sounds more reassuring than he feels.

The nurse comes to get Cassidy, leaving Connor and Oliver alone in their son’s hospital room. “We need to tell Kenzie and Walker,” Oliver says.

“You should call Walker,” Connor replies. “I’m barely holding myself together, so my anxiety would just set off his.

“Are you going to be okay to call Kenzie?” Oliver asks. He’ll call both of their oldest if he has to, but he’d rather it not come to that given how emotionally draining this day has already been.

Connor nods. “She’s just as just good as you at talking down an anxiety attack – I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll go ask where can talk,” Oliver says. “The giant no cell phones sign exists for a reason,” he adds, when he sees his husband about to protest.

“Fine, I’ll be good,” Connor says with a dramatic sigh. “For now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm probably playing very fast and loose with how blood transfusions actually work. #noregrets #notadoctor


End file.
